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While your points are valid, they are not relevant in a legal sense (at least in the United States). An electronic signature is as good as a paper signature un
by pinwale 13y ago
While your points are valid, they are not relevant in a legal sense (at least in the United States).
An electronic signature is as good as a paper signature under the ESign Act of 2000 if they follow this definition:
`electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.`
Hell, even sending the words "I accept" via Morse code over telegraph was considered a legal signature in the 19th century.
However, if there a dispute over the authenticity of the signature and found to be fraudulant, the courts have ruled that it's not a signature then.
- lisper 13y agoThe problem is not disputes over the authenticity of the signature. The problem is disputes over what that signature is connected to, i.e. disputes of the form: "Yes, that is my signature, but that is not the document I signed, this over here is the document that I signed." That is the reason that when you sign a physical document you sign the actual document, and not a blank piece of paper that you then attach to the document with a paper clip.
- kylebrown 13y agoThat's what cryptographic signatures are for ("digital signature" vs "electronic signature"). Hash the document and then sign the hash, to establish probabilistic certainty as to exactly what they signed.